Suburban St. Louis police officer sentenced to 25 years for forcing women into sex acts

A former Uplands Park, MO police officer was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for raping and robbing prostitutes. One attack occurred at his own police station. 32 year old Leon Pullen of Foley, MO was sentenced in a St. Louis federal court Friday, January 28 to the 300 month sentence after pleading guilty to nine federal felonies.

These felonies included conspiracy, deprivation of civil rights, witness tampering, and lying to the FBI. Federal prosecutors dropped ten other charges after Pullen pled guilty July 28, 2010. Pullen faced a sentence of 18 1/2 to 25 years of federal confinement.

Pullen's MO was to respond to online escort ads, then after the women responded, he would identify himself as a police officer, pull out his gun, then force the victims to perform sex acts on him. Two of the victims were forced into sex at gunpoint. Pullen was arrested by the FBI on Saturday, September 19, 2009.

The affidavit goes on to say that Pullen called the woman, said his name was "Jimmy," and agreed to pay $400 for a sexual act and that he had her and another woman meet him in Uplands Park on July 15, 2009.

At the meeting, the affidavit said, Pullen rubbed himself against one woman and told her that she had two choices: to give him all her money or get naked, LaCombe wrote. Another officer was present, [FBI special agent Greg]LaCombe wrote, but that officer is not named in the complaint.

Pullen then ordered her and the other woman back in their car and told them to follow him to the police station, where he took the victim to an office in the rear of the station, forced her to undress and then forcibly performed oral sex on her.

The woman, afraid that Pullen would call in the other officer to have sex with her, tried to end the attack by offering to meet Pullen later, LaCombe wrote. Pullen gave her his contact information, and then she left, later calling the FBI.

The victim of that encounter, identified as D.S., gave a victim impact statement and said the sexual assault left her with PTSD and a back injury. "I've always considered myself a very strong woman until that day," she said. The attack had also affected her ability to parent her four children.

Judge Rodney Sippel gave Pullen the 25 year sentence, stating "[People] trust law enforcement to make sure they're safe," Sippel said. "For law enforcement to turn on them and take from them that sense of safety . . . it's hard to comprehend." Pullen was also ordered to pay thousands of dollars in restitution, with the exact amount being disputed.

The second officer in the federal complaint, Justin Biancardi, plead guilty in St. Louis federal court Monday, January 10, 2011 to shaking down over a dozen prostitutes for money. Biancardi, who cooperated with the feds, faces a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced April 13.

Stalker of ESPN Reporter gets 2 1/2 years in federal prison

LOS ANGELES -- An Illinois insurance executive who secretly shot nude videos of ESPN reporter Erin Andrews was sentenced Monday to 2-1/2 years in prison after giving a tearful apology that was harshly rebuked by his victim.

Michael David Barrett pleaded guilty in December to interstate stalking after prosecutors accused him of following the reporter to at least three cities and shooting the videos through hotel peepholes. Barrett, 48, of suburban Chicago, agreed to a 27-month prison sentence after pleading guilty but it was up to the judge to decide how long he would actually serve.

Andrews urged the judge at the hearing for a harsher sentence and said she fears for her life every time she enters a hotel. "You violated me and you violated all women," Andrews told Barrett. "You are a sexual predator, a sexual deviant and they should lock you up." After the sentencing, she said, "Thirty months isn't enough."

Barrett admitted renting hotel rooms next to Andrews three times and shooting two videos of her while she was naked. He was accused of posting the videos online and trying to sell them to Los Angeles-based celebrity gossip site TMZ last year.

U.S. District Judge Manuel Real said he gave Barrett the maximum sentence under the law. "The victim, Andrews, will be suffering with this problem for the rest of her life," Real said. "There is no life sentence that can be imposed upon him, except his own guilt."

Barrett cried as he addressed Andrews in court, saying he would spend the rest of his life regaining the respect of his friends and family and atoning for his mistakes. "There are no words to tell Ms. Andrews how sorry I am for what I've done to her," he said. "I hope someday she can forgive me."

Andrews, visibly nervous as she spoke, said she had no sympathy for Barrett's claim he was publicly humiliated. "It's my body on the Internet," she said. "I'm being traumatized every single day for what he did.... This will never be over for me."

Barrett, who has until May 3 to surrender, was ordered to have supervised probation for three years after his release, during which he will be prohibited from contacting Andrews, her family or friends.

He will not be allowed to stay in a hotel without approval of a probation officer and if he accepts employment somewhere, Andrews will be notified. Barrett was also ordered to pay $5,000 in fines and $7,366 in restitution, but the judge said further restitution may be imposed to compensate ESPN.

Barrett's lawyer, David Willingham, said his client is undergoing psychological treatment and "has sought the path of redemption. Mr. Barrett has lost everything he built throughout his life," Willingham said. "He's lost his career, his fiancee and his life savings. He knows that he brought this on himself."

Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles have agreed not to pursue further charges against Barrett. However, he could face criminal action in other states stemming from other videos he allegedly shot of unsuspecting nude women through peepholes.

Andrews' attorney, Marshall Grossman, has said there could be as many as a dozen other women that Barrett taped. A sentencing memo filed last month in federal court says Barrett uploaded videos of 16 other women to an online account.

Barrett also allegedly conducted 30 Internet background checks that can produce birthdays and home addresses, the document said. The filing did not name the other alleged victims or say what information he obtained or how he may have used it. Prosecutors claim that 32 videos provided by DailyMotion.com show Barrett "victimized approximately 16 other women in almost precisely the same way that he victimized" Andrews. They did not identify the women.

Andrews testified in December that Barrett's actions had a devastating impact on her and her family because she is constantly reminded that his videos appeared online and is subjected to cruel taunts from sports fans when she works as a sideline reporter.

Andrews has agreed to appear on the new season of ABC-TV's "Dancing with the Stars" -- an offer she said ABC made before the stalking allegations. She said she doesn't want to seclude herself from the public eye because other victims would get the wrong message.

"I did nothing wrong. Just trying to live my life," she said. "I had to deal with a lot of people who said I deserved it, that I had played to a certain audience." Her attorney said she will not file a lawsuit against Barrett.

Former police chief sentenced to year in federal prison for breaking restraining order

By Mashaun D. Simon  The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A man whose job it was to ‘serve and protect’ has been sentenced to serve a year in federal prison. Dennis Lamar Thomas, 50, of Jefferson served as a former Assistant Police Chief with the Jefferson Police Department. He was arrested over a year ago when he violated a state restraining order filed against him by his estranged wife. He went to see her at his son’s home. When police arrived they found a crack pipe, a loaded .38 caliber gun and a hand grenade in his possession.

In addition to his one year sentence, Thomas, who pleaded guilty in August, will also serve three years of supervised release, and was fined $3,000.

Federal marshal charged with coercing woman into sexual relationship

A 48 year old deputy US marshal was charged with luring, then coercing a woman less than half of his age into a sexual relationship, stating that she would lose her child if she did not comply with his advances.

According to the criminal complaint, 48 year old Timothy Moseley, charged with one count of capturing an image of nudity without consent and two counts of false imprisonment, met the then 20 year old woman online back in April and immediately told her that he was in law enforcement and coerced her into "dating" him.

In the summer, the sexual abuse escalated, with Moseley gagging and binding the woman while taking pictures of her he threatened to post of Facebook. In another incident, Moseley allegedly gave the victim a drink causing her to pass out. When she awoke, she was on his bead, nude and surrounded by rose petals. Investigators found photos of the victim bound and passed out with the rose petals American Beauty style.

Moseley, a supervisory deputy assigned to the Eastern District of Wisconsin, has been placed on paid administrative leave pending a review of his status with the agency, according to Jeff Carter, a spokesman for the U.S. Marshal's Service in Washington, D.C.

Moseley was assigned to the Eastern District in January after being transferred from Wyoming, where he was chief deputy for that district, Carter said in an e-mail.

Moseley made an initial court appearance Tuesday, October 13 and bond was set at $20,000.

Clause prohibiting defense contractors from arbitration in criminal cases is step towards justice for rape victim

A woman victimized while serving as a Iraq contractor testified before Congress last week, stating that arbitration in her rape case involving overseas contractors denies rape and other crime victims justice.

Jamie Lee Jones, then 19, was drugged and raped by seven other contractors and two KBR guards on her fourth day on the job as a Halliburton employee. Because her employment contract said that all disputes must come through binding arbitration instead of through courts, Jones is still waiting for her day in court.

"I didn't even know that I had signed such a clause, but even if I had known, I would never have guessed that it would prevent me from bringing my claims to court after being brutally sexually harassed and assaulted. I had no idea that the clause was part of the contract, what the clause actually meant, or that I would eventually end up in this horrible situation."

That day may come soon, since Senator Al Franken (D-MN), sponsored an amendment which passed Wednesday, October 7, 68 to 30 prohibiting "the Defense Department from contracting with companies that require employees to resolve sexual assault allegations and other claims through arbitration."

According to Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, as many as 30 million employees are under such contracts, which disallow trials by jury in civil - or criminal cases.

An arbitration act passed by Congress, Leahy said, was meant to "provide sophisticated businesses an alternative venue to resolve their disputes" but instead has "become a hammer for corporations to use against their employees."

"There is no rule of law in arbitration," Leahy said. "There are no juries or independent judges in the arbitrations industry. There is no appellate review. There is no transparency. And…[for] Jamie Leigh Jones there is no justice."

JOnes said that "If women before me. if they were able to go before a judge and jury, that would have been public record, and I would have known before I went to Iraq what I was getting into."

Mark de Bernardo, the executive director of the Council for Employment Law Equity defended the use of arbitration as "decisively in the employees' best interests," and as an inexpensive alternative to jury trials.

"[Alternative Dispute Resolution] is an effective tool for both management and employees," de Bernardo said. "The opponents of arbitration have simply not demonstrated that the drastic, sweeping changes they seek to enact are necessary and/or appropriate. To the contrary, for the average employee, the elimination of arbitration will do more harm than good."

Franken clashed with De Bernardo repeatedly, stating that "This took place in Iraq, at that time she had no recourse, sir! She has not had her day in court, she has litigated for four years to have her day in court. She was drugged, she was raped, and she had to have reconstructive surgery. If that's a better workplace, what was the workplace like before?"

This clause will become law when and if the larger defense spending bill is passed by Congress.

Kansas police officer who sexted woman facing DUI charges pleads guilty to wire fraud

A Goddard, KS police officer pled guilty to a single count of wire fraud Wednesday, September 2, for sexting a picture of himself and demanding sex from a woman motorist in exchange for her DUI charges being dropped. Calvin Schaffer, 44, was charged with wire fraud because his actions defrauded the citizens of Goddard, KS of his honest services as a police officer, according to U.S. Attorney Lanny Welch.

In his plea, Schaffer admitted to arresting a woman for driving under the influence of alcohol on Feb. 27, as well as later contacting the woman and suggesting he could arrange for the charge to be dismissed if she would have sex with him, Welch said. Prosecutors said Schaffer used police department computers to send e-mails and photographs to the woman while he was on duty. Welch said Schaffer was partially undressed and nude in the photos.

The case became federal because the electronic correspondance traveled through servers on Virginia and California servers. Schaffer faces 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine at sentencing November 16.

Lake City man who wanted to put hit out on wife sentenced to 10 years in federal prison

A Lake City, FL man was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for hiring a hitman to kill his wife. The call to the friend took place last winter between February 11 and March 6, when Ivan Joseph "Joe" Eccles, 35 promised a friend $60,000 if the murder happened by a certain deadline, presumably March 6. However, after the 1st call, an FBI agent was on the other end of the phone. After March 6, Eccles said he'd kill his wife himself. Eccles was arrested March 8, and plead guilty on April 2.

The charges are federal because Eccles' hitman would have traveled from the Midwest to Florida, meaning interstate commerce would be involved. There is no parole in the federal prison system. Lake City is 40 miles west of Jacksonville.

Woman recieves $200k damage award for victimization from child porn consumer

A now 19 year old victim of child porn has recieved the 1st ever award of its kind, a $200,000 restitution order against a Stonington, CT man who downloaded four images of her abuse, but did not create the child sexual abuse pictures. Judge Warren W. Eginton issued the order in a Bridgeport, CT federal courtroom this morning. The damages are split up as follows - $150,000 to the woman herself for medical and counseling expenses, $30,000 for legal fees and over $15,500 experts, including one who testitied that being a child porn victim has inflicted half a million dollars in future counseling costs.

[The] victim hired a lawyer to file a claim against [Alan]Hesketh. She told prosecutors she was 8 and 9 years old when she was subjected to sexual abuse by a relative who photographed her at the direction of a pedophile in another state. The woman claims those images have been circulated by "innumerable collectors of child pornography," including Hesketh, who downloaded four of the photographs. She submitted a damage claim to the U.S. Probation Department that seeks money for medical care, lost income, lost wages and future expenses. The claim is not available in the court file.

The victim's lawyer, James Marsh was hired by the woman and her mother just after the exploitation. He said that the people involved in trading child pornography do just as much damage as the people who create it.

”This notion that somehow we can excuse the defendant because there is no sexual contact is an affront to the victim,” Marsh said.

Prosecutors argued that the woman, whose sexual abuse photos have made themselves at home in child porn collectors' hands, should be compensated for "a decade of insult, injury, and enbarassment." Defense attorney Jonathan Einhorn stated that such an award would be unprecedented and substantially higher than the $50,000 average damages awarded to child porn victims from the producers.

Alan Hesketh, 62, an ex-vice president for Pfizer, was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison for child porn posession by Judge Eginton in November 2008 after admitting to possessing almost 2000 images. As a British national, Hesketh will be deported back to the UK when he is released from prison. The NCMEC identified two dozen kids as known victims of child sexual abuse.

Hesketh's attorney, Jonathan Einhorn, announced that he would appeal the verdict. Judge Eginton suggested that Hesketh could meet restitution by selling one of his many properties, an $834,000 mansion in Stonington, but stated that due to the economy, the award could be distributed over a period of time.

"Restitution is not necessarily mandatory in all circumstances," Einhorn maintains.

But [Assistant US Attorneys Deborah] Slater and [Krishna]Patel claim that federal law makes restitution mandatory for all offenses of sexual exploitation and other abuses of children.

They said the losses could include payment for physical, psychiatric or psychological services; physical and occupational therapy or rehabilitation; transportation; temporary housing; lost income; and attorney fees.

Jeffery Meyer, a former federal prosecutor, stated that damages for child porn collectors would be another tool in prosecutors and judges' hands besides longer sentences.

"We already see judges imposing long sentences," he said. Paying restitution would be "one more substantial deterrent to people who get involved in child pornography."

While Einhorn fears that the precedent setting decision would open an avenue for claims for others victimized in that way, child and victim's advocates hope that this leads to more claims by known child porn victims.

"If that's what happens, that's what happens," said Cindy Robinson, a lawyer with Tremont & Sheldon who represents people abused by Catholic priests. "These children suffer immeasurable damage."

"I hope it's true," said Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Exploited and Missing Children in Alexandria, Va., who identified the girl's images for prosecutors. "I hope it spreads like wildfire. I hope it sends a message to those victimized that they can get help ... and creates kind of a deterrent effect that makes those think twice before downloading these images. I applaud the vision of this federal judge. I hope it is emulated."

Former postmaster sentenced to 17 1/2 years for attempt on ex-wife

Postmaster David Willis of Cornelius, NC was sentenced to 17 ½ years in prison for a murder-for hire scheme hatched so his ex-wife wouldn’t share his retirement pension. Federal authorities (the FBI and US Postal Inspection Service) wiretapped Willis discussing with another postal employee how to kill the ex-wife, April Timmons with antifreeze and also asked about hiring a hit man.

Willis said that “antifreeze, the old formula, tastes as sweet as lemonade. And it will kill your ass real quick. You throw a little lemon juice in it, it’s already orange colored and all you gotta do is drink it – and it doesn’t take that much. Two days later, they croak.”

He complained that half of the $5,000 per month retirement pension would have to go to his ex. “I might have worked for Wal Mart the last 30 years…I can’t live on $2500 a month. I’m going to have to work 30 more years – I can’t stand 30 more years at the post office. I need to retire and enjoy life while I can.”

There is no parole in the federal prison system, and Willis has to serve at least 85% of his sentence.

Girls' field hockey coach convicted of child porn charges

Tood Broxmeyer, a former New York girls' field hockey coach, was convicted September 18 of child pornography charges and taking minors across state lines for sexual activity for enticing a 17 year old girl to not only take suggestive pictures of herself, but also to procure photos of other teenage girls who were on his hockey teams.

The victim whose charges led to Broxmeyer's conviction was a 17 year old girl in a sexual relationship with Broxmeyer last year. A private coach, Broxmeyer coached girls from Broome County, NY (county seat Binghampton), New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

While Patrick Kilker, Broxmeyer's attorney, stated that none of the girls were coerced into sending pictures of themselves to their coach, Assistant U.S. Attorney Miroslav Lovric stated in closing arguments Tuesday, September 16 that "these girls were pieces of meat that he nibbled and chewed on to enjoy himself."

The young woman whose testimony was read back during deliberations testified she either took the pictures herself or asked other players for them as a challenge for Broxmeyer.

"They made me feel like I did something right," she told the jury Tuesday.

A conviction on the production charge alone carries a potential 30-year prison sentence.
On the surface, Lovric said Broxmeyer was not the stereotypical child predator, clad in a trench coat and enticing children with candy.

Instead, Lovric said he was successful and attractive. A national field hockey association recommended him to parents as one of the best coaches in the country.

Broxmeyer, arrested on December 22, also faces many state child sex charges for the incidents.

While Pennsylvania and New Jersey's AOC's are both 16 and New York's AOC is 17, the federal statute defining child pornography defines a minor as under the age of 18, making the photographs illegal, even though sex with the 17 year old player was legal (but highly unethical and immoral). Broxmeyer is scheduled to be sentenced next January.

Man gets 10 years in federal prison for felon in posession charges stemming from gunpoint rape of girlfriend

U.S. District Judge Terry L. Wooten sentenced a 37 year old Florence, SC man to 10 years in federal prison for the rape of his then girlfriend.

Donnie Wayne Sheffield was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm stemming from a January 2006 attack where after a cocaine binge, Sheffield, armed with a 12 gauge shotgun, beat and raped his girlfriend, threatening to hang her. She convinced her perpetrator to let her go to work before her coworkers got suspicious and called Florence, SC police – which they did anyway after she joined them.

Because Sheffield was on parole, officers coordinated with the S.C. Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services and the U.S. Marshals Service to arrest Sheffield. An arrest team entered the victim’s house, where they arrested Sheffield in a back bedroom. Agents seized the shotgun and the noose, still hanging from a light fixture in the house.

Sheffield was previously convicted in 2001 for a burglary that involved breaking into another girlfriend’s house and beating and holding her hostage. He has other convictions for failure to stop for a blue light, larceny, and distribution of an imitation controlled substance.

U.S. Attorney Rose Mary Parham prosecuted this case, with help from the ATF and SLED (State Law Enforcement Division).

Suspected rapist ordered to prison on drug charges, then sentenced to 35 years for rape

(Originally Posted 1-10-08)
James Clayton Solomon, a physical fitness instructor whose training business goes by the ironically named Bodies For Christ, was ordered to report back to prison on or before April 2nd to serve a 5 year term in a federal prison facility after a hearing Monday (January 7) in the U.S. District Court in Fort Smith .

Solomon, convicted in federal court of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance in 1999, was placed on supervised release back in 2005. One condition of supervised relase is not to break any other laws, state or federal.

The Ft. Smith (AR) Times-Record's Accused Sex Offender Must Return To Prison has more:

However, Solomon ran into trouble last summer in connection with allegations that he raped or sexually assaulted several women at his personal training business, Bodies for Christ.

Solomon was charged June 12 in Washington County with two counts of rape after two women said they were attacked at his gym in Springdale. On a petition to revoke his release, he was arrested and set for a federal detention hearing nine days later in Fort Smith. On June 21, the same day he was released on $50,000 signature bond, a warrant was issued for his arrest in Crawford County on suspicion of two incidents of second-degree sexual assault alleged to have occurred at his Van Buren gym. Federal probation officers filed a supplemental petition to revoke, adding the new allegations to the previous ones listed.

Solomon was placed on home electonic monitoring after his release on bond. At the hearing, three of four accusers, federal probation officers, detectives and several defense character witnesses testified.

In the Washington County incidents, one woman said she was raped Feb. 11, when she went to interview for a job at Solomon’s gym. The other said she was raped Nov. 14, 2006, when she went to his gym to discuss her fitness goals with him.

In the Crawford County incidents, Van Buren policedetective Steve Weaver said a Hackett woman, who madeher report over the phone and was never available afterward, said Solomon touched her inappropriately at his Van Buren gym in January 2007. Weaver said a Fort Smith woman reported a similar incident as occurring in February 2007.The latter woman testified, but was unclear on the stand as to whether she was assaulted in February 2006 or 2007. She said the incident occurred when she went to see Solomon about buying a cheap car he had offered to help her obtain.

Federal Prosecutor Kyra Jenner stated witness tampering may have occured after one of the alleged victims stated she was promised a car in exchange for not testifying.

District Judge Robert T. Dawson declined to consider the question, but at the end of the hearing, he expressed concern about witness tampering. In revoking Solomon’s release, Dawson found the defendant guilty of the both new law violations alleged — the June 12 rape charges and the June 21 warrant on sexual assault charges.

Solomon will be credited with time served on electronic monitoring.

(Update 5-12-08) Soloman ran from Arkansas to the Los Angeles area, where he started a new job as a fitness trainer. He was arrested there in April, and returned to Oklahoma. The trial for the rape charges will be in July. He's being held in the Washington County Jail.

(Update 7-13-08) Soloman was sentenced to 35 years in prison for the rape of the 25 year old fitness trainer that the charges were for, and 15 years for the failure to appear charge. The rape charge and 10 years of the failure to appear charge will run consecutively, so that means Soloman will spend a total of 45 years in prison, barring early release. More details about how Soloman groomed the victim were aired - the rape occured after he met the victim, a fellow fitness instructor, at a Wal-Mart, and he set up a "job interview," where he then held her down on the floor and raped her.

Circuit Judge Kim Smith sentenced Soloman immediately. The rape sentence and 10 years of the failure to appear sentence will run consecutively. The remaining five years will run concurrently."I think, under the circumstances, 35 years is an appropriate sentence," Smith said.

Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Charles Duell said running the sentences concurrently would have provided no punishment for Soloman fleeing justice."The bottom line is the jury did the right thing," Duell said.

Soloman was somewhat argumentative with the judge during sentencing. Afterward, Soloman spoke with his mother and daughter as he was escorted by deputies out of the courtroom."I love you, baby," he told the daughter. She sat in the hallway floor sobbing after he was gone.

According to Duell, Soloman targheted vulnerable women, and faces federal charges for violating his federal probation. Charges are pending in other Arkansas counties, and other women who were raped declined to press charges.

Man sentenced to 27 years for wife's death

U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney in Marquette, MI sentenced 25 year old Derek Linklater to 27 years in federal prison for killing his wife hours after they were married.

Loretta Wandahsega's body was found last July in her home on Hannahville Indian Community land. She belonged to the Potawatomi Tribe of American Indians. An autopsy showed the 34-year-old woman died from a blow to the head. When entering his plea last year, Linklater told a judge the couple had a heated argument hours after they were married July 11, 2007.

Felonies occuring on tribal land have federal jurisdiction. Linklater's formal charge was 2nd degree murder.

Jane doe rape kits an option starting next year

Starting next year, states are required to offer Jane Doe rape kits to victims who are too ashamed or scared to file charges or report immediately in rape cases, a change which, according to victim's advocates and forensic nurses, will encourage more victims to come forward and file charges earlier, before the evidence becomes unusable.

Carey Goryl, executive director of the International Association of Forensic Nurses, says "Sometimes the issue of actually having to make a report to police can be a barrier to victims, and this will allow that barrier to cease, to allow the victim to think about it before deciding whether to talk to police."

The Jane Doe rape kits are standard procedure in Massachusetts, and certain colleges and hospitals, but at $800, other jurisdictions do not cover the cost of a rape exam unless a formal police report is filed.

Beginning in 2009, states will have to pay for Jane Doe rape kits to continue receiving funding under the federal Violence Against Women Act, which provides tax dollars for women's shelters and law enforcement training. States will decide how many locations will offer anonymous rape exams and how long the evidence should be kept.

Emergency rooms typically use a "rape kit" to collect evidence for use by police and prosecutors. It consists of microscope slides, boxes and plastic bags for storing skin, hair, blood, saliva or semen gathered by a specially trained nurse. The victim's injuries are also photographed.

What makes a Jane Doe rape kit different is that it is sealed with only a number on the outside of the envelope to identify the victim. Police do not open the envelope unless the victim decides to press charges.

The FBI has recommended such an option since at least 1999.

"The idea is to collect the evidence now, while it's still there," said Scott Berkowitz, president of the national Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network.

In Cecil County, MD, Jane Doe rape kits were offered 4 years ago after a rape victim recanted, and Anne Bean, director of a sex assault program, said giving the option to women whether to file charges or not crucial. Officials in Maryland keep the evidence for 90 days, while the victim decides whether to file charges. Using the Jane Doe rape kit encouraged a reluctant rape victim to undergo an exam, and her rapist was eventually tried and successfully prosecuted. 13 women have used the Jane Doe rape kit, but no charges have been filed against perps in Allegheny and Cecil counties.

"Just to let people know this option is out there is good, to say, 'It's OK, you don't have to prosecute if you don't want to,'" said Kathleen, a rape victim in Pennsylvania who spoke on condition her full name not be used.

Kathleen underwent an exam after being raped in Virginia in 2004, but her rapist was never found or charged. Kathleen said she wasn't offered anonymous reporting, but she has met rape victims in group therapy who regret not going for an exam.

"They're embarrassed. They don't even go get tested for STDs because they're so embarrassed," Kathleen said.

Forensic nurse Chris Lenz only offers Jane Doe rape kits to victims that medical professionals believe are in danger of not reporting.

"Of course we encourage reporting. That's what we would like. But when they're adamant they don't want to report — if we think, 'She's going to walk out if she has to go through with this,' — that's when we offer it."

Only adult victims have this right - cases involving kids and incest must be reported to the police.

FBI agent sentenced in abduction of girlfriend

A FBI agent who once headed up the bureau's Toledo office will be going to prison for 6 years after being sentenced March 12. A further decade sentence was suspended.

The prison time is part of a ten-year suspended sentence handed down Tuesday in Arlington County Circuit. Carl Spicocchi, 55, pleaded guilty in December two counts of abduction and using a firearm while committing a felony.He was on a temporary assignment in Washington at the time of the attack last August at the woman's apartment in Crystal City.

Court records say Spicocchi believed the woman was cheating on him. The woman told authorities she was held for six hours and was wrapped in tape, dragged by her hair, beaten and threatened with a knife and a gun before she escaped.